Circus Train
*Henry and the Elephant |last_appearance=* Annuals * Thomas and the Circus |creator(s)=Wilbert Awdry |country_of_origin= Island of Sodor |gauge= |vehicle=Rolling stock |type=Circus wagons |railway=North Western Railway }} The Circus Train is colourful rolling stock which is used by the circus when it comes to Sodor. The train has special cattle trucks used to transport horses and trucks, flatbeds and vans which are used to transport circus goods and equipment. Coaches and brake vans are used to carry the circus performers. Biography ''The Railway Series When the circus came to town, shunting the special trucks and coaches helped cheer up the sulky Henry, Gordon and James. However, the latter was later told to pull the train away, much to the dismay of Henry and GordonThe Railway Series: "Troublesome Engines". 'List of rolling stock used in the Railway Series:' File:CircusPlankTrucksRWS.png|7-Plank Trucks (x6) File:CircusVansRWS.png|LMS Banana Vans (x3) File:CircusLivestockTrucksRWS.png|Livestock Wagons (x3) File:NoImagePlaceholder.png|Circus Coaches Thomas & Friends Series 4 When the circus first visited Sodor, special "Topham Circus" trucks were delivered to the Island by ship. The Fat Controller arranged for the engines to shunt the special trucks; this cheered up Gordon, James and Henry who were originally feeling unpleased. The engines soon forgot to be tired and cross, until, much to the dismay of Gordon and Henry, James was chosen to pull the Circus Train awaySeries 4 "Henry and the Elephant". 'List of "Topham Circus" rolling stock used in the television series:' File:CircusPlankTruckModel.png|7-Plank Trucks (x2) File:TophamCircusVan.png|LNER 12 Ton Vans (x3) File:CattleTruckModel2.png|Cattle Trucks (x2) File:TophamCircusSaltVan.png|Salt Vans (x2) File:UtilityVansModel3.png|Utility Van (x1) File:TophamCircusFlatbed.png|Flatbed (x1) File:BrakevanModel.png|BR Standard 20 Ton Brake Van (x1) Series 8 Sir Topham Hatt once gave Thomas the job of taking the Circus Train and Annie and Clarabel carried the performers. Thomas was told to share the load due to its weight. However, Thomas wanted all the glory, so he tried to pull the circus train all by himself. Soon, his side-rods broke from the strain of pulling the heavy train and he was forced to stop. James and Percy came to the rescue of Thomas and the Circus TrainSeries 8 "Thomas and the Circus". Some of the Circus trucks were later reused for the Funfair Train whenever the funfair comes to SodorSeries 10 "Percy and the Funfair". 'List of rolling stock used in the television series:' File:CircusVans.png|LNER 12 Ton Vans (x4) File:CattleTrucks2.png|GWR Cattle Trucks (x3) File:1PlankCircusTruck.png|1-Plank truck with added ventilated van (x2) File:CircusFlatbed.png|Flatbeds (x3) File:CircusToadBrakevan.png|GWR 16 Ton Brake Van (x1) Miscellaneous There are also coaches for circus performers to travel in. Two of these coaches were seen in the book Henry and the Elephant. The coaches are painted yellow with red lining and with "Circus" written on their sides in blue. 'List of rolling stock that appear in the books:' File:CircusTrucks.png|Circus Trucks File:CircusCoaches1.png|Circus Coaches (x2) They appeared again in another Henry and the Elephant book. This time they had red lining and "Miller Circus" written on their sides in red. 'List of "Miller Circus" rolling stock that appear in the books:' File:MillerCircusTrucks.png|Miller Circus Trucks File:MillerCircusCoaches.png|Miller Circus Coaches (x2) Technical Details Basis In the Railway Series, the vans are based on LMS banana vans. The trucks are based on 7-plank open wagons. The livestock wagons are a freelance design. In the television series, the trucks are based on 7-plank open wagons. The vans were based on LNER 12 ton vans, Saxa salt wagons, GWR cattle trucks and SE&CR Diagram 960 PMV (with added bogies). The flatbeds are GWR J28 Macaw B flatbeds. The brake vans are based on a BR Standard 20 Ton brake van and a GWR Toad brake van. There were also 1-plank trucks with the top part of a ventilated van on top of them which could be removed. File:BR7PlankWagonn.jpg|A 7-plank truck File:BananaVanBasis.jpg|LMS Banana Van File:LNER12TonCoveredVan.jpg|An LNER 12 Ton Covered Van in real life File:SaxaSaltVan.jpg|A Saxa salt wagon in real life File:CattletruckBasis.png|GWR cattle wagons File:UtilityWagonsbasis.jpg|An SE&CR Diagram 960 PMV File:Aflatbedinreallife.jpg|GWR J28 Macaw B flatbeds File:1plankwagonirl.jpg|A 1-plank wagon in real life File:BRStandard20TonBrakeVan.jpg|BR Standard 20 ton brake van File:Toad'sbasis.jpg|GWR 16 ton brake van Livery In the Railway Series, the trucks were painted light brown. In the fourth series of the television series, the rolling stock were painted white with red lining. They had yellow banners with red lettering on their sides reading "TOPHAM CIRCUS". The open wagons had green tarpaulins, while the flat truck carried a red and white one. Some vans had brown fronts and backs. 'Variations of salt vans seen in the television series:' Two alternate salt vans exist, one with a brown front/back and one with a cream front/back. File:TophamCircusSaltVan1.png|A salt van with a brown front File:TophamCircusSaltVan.png|A salt van with a cream front In the eighth series, they were then gold, blue and red. Some vans had an illustration of a clown's face on both sides. 'Variations of LNER 12 ton vans seen in the television series:' The LNER 12 ton vans are painted red, dark blue and yellow. They have white buffer-housings and roofs. They have white parallel stripes with yellow, red and blue starts. They also have a golden star with black outing on their doors. The red vans have a dark blue running board, while the blue vans have red ones. Some have circus logos, some do not. File:CircusVans.png|A blue/yellow van and a red/yellow van File:FunfairSpecialVans1.png|Blue/yellow van with opposing parallel lines File:FunfairSpecialVans.png|Red/yellow van with opposing parallel lines 'Variations of 1-Plank truck container designs seen in the television series:' There are also multiple different-colour container variants used for the 1-plank trucks. File:1PlankCircusTruck.png File:1PlankCircusTruck1.png File:CircusBox1.png File:CircusBox2.png File:CircusBox3.png File:CircusBox4.png File:CircusBox5.png File:1PlankFunfairTruck1.png In the books, the circus trucks are painted yellow. Appearances Railway Series= The Railway Series *'Troublesome Engines' - Henry and the Elephant |-|Television Series= Thomas & Friends * 'Series 4' - Henry and the Elephant * 'Series 8' - Thomas and the Circus Trivia * The circus flatbeds were white in the fourth series, but they were then gold and red since the eighth series. * The fourth series circus train models have been reused in several episodes; ** A circus flatbed was used for the flatbed of the fairground equipment train in the fifth series episode, Make Someone Happy. ** A circus van was used for the Utility Van in the sixth series episode, Elizabeth the Vintage Lorry, but with the "Topham Circus" lettering removed. * A fourth series circus van appeared in the CGI series as a cream van with red stripes. In addition, it was released as a refrigerator van from TrackMaster, Bachmann and Hornby. * The eighth series circus train models have been reused in several episodes; ** Toad's model, without a face, was used for the brake van of the Circus Train in the eighth series episode, Thomas and the Circus. ** The circus train was used as the Funfair Train in The Great Discovery pulled by Molly, but with the "Circus" logos removed. * Some of the eighth series circus train rolling stock were on display at Drayton Manor, but are currently now in storage. Merchandise * Wooden Railway * Take Along * Take-n-Play * Hornby * Thomas Engine Collection Series * Nakayoshi * Capsule Plarail * TrackMaster ''(discontinued) References he:רכבת הקרקס ja:サーカス列車 pl:Wagony Cyrkowe ru:Цирковой поезд Category:Rolling stock Category:Trucks Category:Coaches Category:North Western Railway Category:Standard gauge Category:Trains